The Sword And The Olive : A Critical History Of The Israeli Defense Force

Combining razor-sharp analysis with dramatic narrative, vivid portraits of soldiers and commanders with illuminating discussions of battle tactics and covert actions, The Sword and the Olive traces the history of the IDF from its beginnings in Palestine to today. The book also goes beyond chronology to wrestle with the political and ethical struggles that have shaped the IDF and the country it serves—struggles that are manifesting themselves in the recent tragic escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Often revisionist in attitude, surprising in many of its conclusions, this book casts new light on the struggle for peace in the Middle East. In this book, Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld offers a history of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). From the founding of Hashomer and guerrilla groups like Hagana and PAL-MACH, to the formation of the state of Israel, van Creveld shows how political disagreements were reflected militarily, and why it is necessary to understand the early internecine battles in order to make sense of contemporary Israeli politics. He includes the statesmen and soldiers who led Israel and fought for it--Moshe Dayan, Ariel Sharon, Golda Meir, Yitschak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin, and others--as well as the Arab leaders who opposed them. Van Creveld also corrects a number of famous misconceptions about the IDF--for example, that male and female soldiers are treated as equals--and reveals just how Israel may have secretly used its nuclear threat to win battles it might otherwise have lost. The sword and the olive also shows how, in 1982 in Lebanon, the Israeli Army for the first time fought a significantly weaker enemy and failed miserably. The Lebanese debacle--"Israel's Vietnam"--Was followed almost immediately by the IDF's attempt to put down the Palestinian uprising by force. Israel's troops killed over ten Arabs for every soldier they themselves lost, but as they did so their self respect disintegrated and their moral collapsed. The IDF has yet to recover and now it is beginning to realize that the greatest danger may not be from its Arab neighbors, but from within "Around 1905 a small group of Jews, having escaped the pogroms in their native Russia, found themselves refugees in a foreign country. Surrounded by hostile Arabs, they banded together in a small group known as Ha-shomer - "The Guard." From these humble beginnings, the renowned Israeli Defense Force was born, and over the course of the 20th century proved itself to be one of the greatest armed forces of all time. Again and again, often against overwhelming odds, it defeated its enemies in victories so dramatic that the IDF assumed mythical status. Behind every myth, however, there is a reality. Israel's forces have suffered defeat in recent years - most notably in Lebanon in 1982 - and some of the successes have come at a great cost to morale. The events of the second Intifada have even led some to ask if Israel is now the Goliath, and no longer the David of the region: powerful, arrogant, and vulnerable.". "In the Sword and the Olive, military historian Martin van Creveld offers the first complete history of the IDF in a generation. The Sword and the Olive is a history of one army as the history of a nation."--BOOK JACKET. Published in the fiftieth anniversary year of the state of Israel: a complete history of one of the world's most admired-and most mythologized-fighting forces